A leaked memo from USA Today parent company Gannett Co. has revealed that the company recently purchased thousands of iPhone 4S and iPad devices in order to aid its journalists in real-time reporting, video storytelling and social media participation.

Gannett Blog, which is not affiliated with the company, published a memo on Wednesday, allegedly from Gannett's U.S. newspapers division president Bob Dickey, detailing the publisher's new technology strategy.

According to the memo, the company "purchased thousands of new devices," including the iPhone 4S, iPad 2 and netbooks, for its journalists this week. A range of accessories, such as microphones, MiFi wireless internet hotspots and cables, have also been bought to outfit the devices for news-gathering purposes. The equipment is scheduled to arrive at newsrooms around the U.S. in January 2012.

"These new tools will help our journalists meet the demands of the new news cycle, one that requires agility in real-time reporting, social media and greater emphasis on video storytelling, further increasing our competitive advantage," the memo read.

Some of the devices will be used to create digital workstations at each of Gannett's local Information Centers "to monitor the content experience we provide across digital channels  tablets and smart phones, in particular."

Journalists will also reportedly receive training in early 2012 on how to use the devices in order to maximize the impact of the initiative and enable them to do new things that Dickey "cant even imagine yet."

Gannett COO Gracia Martore said early this year that the iPad has been a "real positive" for USA Today, though she was referring to the success of the company's iPad app in dispersing the news, rather than the tablet's ability to help create it.

USA Today underwent its most dramatic overhaul ever last year as part of a shift toward bringing content to the iPad. Faced with declining circulation, the paper cut 130 staff as it turned away from print to focus more on digital formats. With thousands of iOS devices set to arrive early next year, Gannett has upped the ante in its bid to evolve alongside technology.

It's nice to hear that iPhones and iPads are being used in many different fields of business. Considering that some people are still calling these products toys, I'm glad there are some sensible people taking advantage of Apple products and putting them to good use. It's nice to know that these businesses aren't waiting for Windows 8 tablets which will arrive late next year.

The iPhone 4S camera is quite good. You can input pictures and videos from the iPhone to the iPad using the Camera Connection Kit.

You can input from many cameras and SD cards with the same kit.

Once on the iPad, it is easy to create a basc video with iMovie.

I have a friend who is a executive at a major broadcast network. My friend claims that most of their content under 15 minutes is created using iMovie and similar applications.

This is especially useful for news, events and sports highlights.

If you have 2 people involved, one can be capturing with the camera, while the other edits the video. As necessary, you connect the devices to import the latest shots. When editing is done, you simply send the video to YT, etc. or your own server.

It's nice to hear that iPhones and iPads are being used in many different fields of business. Considering that some people are still calling these products toys, I'm glad there are some sensible people taking advantage of Apple products and putting them to good use. It's nice to know that these businesses aren't waiting for Windows 8 tablets which will arrive late next year.

This is a personal example...

Two years ago, the grandkids lost their paternal grandmother.

My son-in-law took several weeks, and many computer hours, creating a tribute sideshow with iDVD.

Last week, the grandkids lost their uncle.

My 16-year-old granddaughter was charged with creating a tribute, ASAP.

She had to sort through thousands of photos on a Picasa web site, download them, create a video then upload to YT for friends and family.

Long story short... She created 3 different videos in 2 days.

They are quite good -- with music, titles and Ken Burns effect on almost every photo -- to zoom in on her uncle.

The longest time was spent downloading photos from Picasa and uploading the finished movies to YT.

She could whip out a 5-minute video with 71 protos in about 20 minutes...

Oh, forgot to mention... She did it all on iMovie on her iPad -- never even touched a pre-post-PC computer.